1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to envelopeforming apparatus for sequentially folding a thin sheet wrapper of dough, such as a tortilla, around a foodstuff filling so as to produce a burrito or similar food product.
2. Prior Art
The Quintana U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,493 proposed to solve the problem of producing stuffed, folded or rolled food products, such as burritos, with automatic equipment to reduce the high cost of manually producing the burritos and to insure a consistent quality of product. However, Quintana discloses complex apparatus in which a conveyor belt is periodically started and stopped, and which requires various synchronizing means to regulate the folding operations and the conveyor belt.
The Hai U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,656 discloses a machine for producing filled pastry rolls having foodstuff in an envelope covering but folding of the covering is accomplished at successive stations during dwells of the product instead of the product traveling continuously.
While the conveyor belts of the food-processing apparatus shown in Pomara U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,676 and McDonald U.S. Pat. No. 1,981,875 move continuously during processing of the product, the resultant product has only a doubled or single-folded covering as in a taco or turnover and such apparatus cannot produce a burrito having an envelope with several folds covering a foodstuff filling, or an enchilada or taquito with several folds or rolled layers covering a foodstuff filling.
The Pulici U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,007 shows another apparatus for producing a foodstuff-filled dough envelope, such as a burrito, but such apparatus includes a complex conveyor system having articulated platens.